1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to armoring material and an arrangement thereof. More particularly, this invention relates to an arrangement incorporating armoring material to enhance the resistance of a long range land or surface attack guided missile warhead section to penetration and destruction by mechanical countermeasures such as gun projectiles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Currently, protection of guided missile warhead sections from mechanical countermeasures involves the thickening of the forward facing end of the metal encasement which forms the warhead section and encloses the warhead explosive. By way of background it is useful to note that in many guided missile configurations the warhead section is not the forwardmost section of the missile. Oftentimes a guidance, control or other section is located forward of the warhead. At the range at which mechanical countermeasures, such as gun shells, can be expected to be encountered "head-on" by a long range missile the sections of the missile forward of the warhead have essentially accomplished their task of bringing the warhead to a target. At this point in the flight of the missile, protection of the warhead and its fuzing becomes the paramount concern. As noted, warhead protection currently relies on the thickening of the forward end of the warhead encasement. Where the warhead is not the forwardmost section of a missile, the forward end of the warhead encasement must also accommodate the mounting of the missile section forward of it.
The degree of protection from mechanical countermeasures offered by a thickened forward encasement end has heretofore been a function of the amount of thickening which could be tolerated in terms of added weight to the missile. As warhead encasements are generally fabricated from steel, encasement thickening rapidly adds a significant amount of weight to the missile where the facial area of the warhead encasement can be on the order of 300 square inches or more. While a thickened encasement may provide adequate protection for the warhead from mechanical countermeasures, the thickening may result in a significant loss in missile range due to the added weight. As a result, a design tradeoff must be made in current guided missiles between the need to provide the warhead protection from mechanical countermeasures and the need to propel that warhead over long distances. A need thus exists to provide adequate protection to guided missile warheads while not, in the process of providing such protection, adding an amount of weight which significantly reduces the range of the missile.